The Paramount+ essential plan and the Paramount+ with Showtime plan will both increase their prices in the coming months.
The Paramount+ essential plan will increase by $2 per month to $7.99 for all new subscribers and the Paramount+ with Showtime plan will increase by $1 to $12.99. The rate for existing monthly subscribers of the essential plan will remain unchanged, as will the pricing of both annual subscription plans.
The limited commercial plan will also increase by $1 to $7.99 for current subscribers. The new pricing starts August 20 for all new Paramount+ customers. For existing Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, the price hikes kick in with their next billing date on or after September 20.
The move comes amid a wave of price increases at media and entertainment companies, including at Spotify, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock. The increases come in response to enhanced programming, as with the Olympics on Peacock, the new season of House of the Dragon on Max and audiobooks on Spotify, but also as a part of a move to make streaming services profitable, and in some cases, push more customers toward the advertising tiers.
The essential plan includes limited commercial interruptions and does not include local live CBS station. NFL on CBS and UEFA Champions League are available via separate live feeds. The plan with Showtime is commercial free. At Netflix, comparatively, the ad-supported plan is $6.99 per month and $15.49 per month for ad free, while Disney+’s plans are $7.99 and $13.99 respectively.
The price increases at Paramount come ahead of the return of the NFL on CBS this fall, as well as other original programming including Tulsa King, Frasier and Lioness. And it comes as the fate of the company, and its streaming services, continues to be in question after Shari Redstone rejected the takeover bid from the consortium led by Skydance and RedBird Capital.